A Very Promising Blog: Z Geography

A friend who I greatly respect in the discipline has started blogging.  The blog, Z Geography, is designed to elevate the discipline from the doldrums which it is currently stuck in.  Anyone who wants to advance geography should seriously pay attention.

I am so excited with his blog that I am republishing two key points from the post to get readers excited.  By all means follow this blog.

 Geography in the United States is dead. And geographers killed it. Obviously, I’m generalizing and being (only somewhat) sensationalist, partially because I’m terrible at introductions and partially because I need to entertain myself. But the crux of the idea is that the discipline of Geography in the U.S. has withered and its practitioners seem to not have noticed and, even worse, if they have they don’t seem to care. Which is a shame, I love Geography, not (just) because it gave me a job, a career, and an awesome perspective, but because my life is Geography. And here’s evidence of geography’s lack of influence – I didn’t realize it was something beyond memorization until university. This is a problem...

  This is why Z-Geography exists: to elevate and popularize the discipline. Its about getting you, the reader, to think about things geographically – as you go along you will eventually realize: Geography is everything.

     In closing I offer this definition of the discipline: Geography is the study of an area with particular emphasis on its people, its landscape, and the myriad ways in which several areas and their phenomena are related.

Christmas Eve 2012

Normal blogging will resume January 2, 2013.  Until then I leave you with my video of Christmas Carolers assembled by a Protestant chaplain in a remote spot in eastern Afghanistan.  Video from 2010.



Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us, that we, made in your image, may conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot image your majesty, power and wonder; nor is it fitting for us to try. But your mercy reaches from the heavens, through the clouds, to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts, the gift of your eternal love. Caress us with your tiny hands, embrace us with your tiny arms, and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries.

Healthiest and Deadliest Gun Cultures Around the World

Latin America has the deadliest gun culture while Western Europe has the healthiest.  Interestingly enough the United States is almost right in the center (which is not that bad when one considers it has the largest amount of guns per capita in the world).

With all the discussion about gun violence in the news I decided to compare number of gun homicides to number of guns.  The results are below

Of note I found it fascinating that number of guns and gun homicides seem to have no positive correlation.  In fact, most of the countries with the healthiest gun cultures have more guns, not less.

"Geographies": A Warning Term

A Catholicgauze rant.

In the past, up until the late 1980s, the term "geographies" was little used anywhere.  It was used simply as a plural term for "geography".  One could write about the "geographies" of New Zealand and Australia meaning just the geography of New Zealand and the geography of Australia.  However, many thought there was no need to make "geography" plural so the term "geographies" was rare.

An Ngram searched revealed that "geographies" as a term was reinvented in the late 1980s

However, starting in the late 1980s and surging in the 1990s, the term "geographies" was hijacked.  A coalition of "post-modern", "critical", openly Marxist, and other schools of leftist academia took the word "geographies" as one of their own.

No standard definitions of "geographies" exists, not even in academic geographic dictionaries.  What can be accepted though is that due to the hard left nature of the new "geographies"-users its usage is limited to human and barely used, if at all, in physical geography.  A basic understanding is that "geographies" claims there is no objective, unified truth combined with heavy usage of sociology.  An example would be that for City X, homosexuals, feminists, homeless, migrants, and rich all experience and "feel" the urban area differently.  One group's "geography" is then combined with other's to create a "geographies of City X".

Further, the "geographies"-using leftist geographers tend to advocate for somesort of change, "activist geographies", with their studies.  Further, due to the merging of hardcore leftism in academia many times the very geographic nature of some "geographies" project is in question.  For example, the emotional geographies conference has this blurb on their website about their upcoming conference

this fourth conference provides a forum for a range of people from different disciplinary backgrounds as well as societal partners and artists to creatively explore the role of emotion in thinking about and experiencing space and society.

All this has lead to me treating "geographies" as different from traditional geography and one of the main reasons there is such a disconnect between geographic studies/geography and academic geographers.  The main book on globalization "Commanding Heights" had no input from any geographer.  Try to name recent a mainstream/popular/impactful book by an academic geographer who uses the term "geographies".  I dare you.

For examples of these "geographies" which I dislike so much check out these posts Geographies of Feminist Art, Fourth International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Emotional Geographies, Communifesto for Fuller Geographies: Towards Mutual Security’, Urban Uprising/Re-imagining the City, Critical Geography Forum, and David "Most cited geographer ever in academia" Harvey's Reading Marx's Capital.

Note:  There has been a trend by some younger geographers to use the term "geographies" just  because older academics use the term.  These younger geographers sometimes lack political motive in their "geographies" studies.

BIG Map Blog

There is something fun and fascinating about looking at full sized maps, especially older ones.  BIG Map Blog allows both tastes to be satisfied with a random assortment of neat maps.  I am enjoying the Comparative View Of The Heights of Mountains map from 1816.  Maps can be downloaded on the computer and there is even an option to buy prints.

When Exactly Will the Mayan December 2012 "Doomsday" Begin?

For a previous geographical look at another claimed doomsday, check out When Will the Supposed Rapture of 2011 Start?

According to some, but not most Maya themselves, something like a doomsday is suppose to occur on December 21, 2012.  But the geographer in me realizes time and date are somewhat relative.  So I have to ask, when exactly will the dreaded "Mayan" December 21 apocalypse begin?

Main scenario:  Doomsday at Dawn

Most archaeologists agree that the Mayan day begins with the sunrise so we need to find when the sun would rise over the Mayan primate city to figure out when the "day" begins.  However, there was no one Mayan empire as Maya is actually a cultural grouping.  So to does this I searched for the easternmost (Tulum) and westernmost (Palenque) major Mayan cities.

I then looked up when sunrise will be for these locations by using the NOAA Solar Calendar.  The sun will rise in Tulum on December 21 at 6:21 am local time.  Meanwhile, the sun will rise in Palenque at 6:34 am local time.  This gives us an Armageddon window of 13 minutes.

So breaking this down the Mayan end of the world starts at the following local times according to sunrise over Tulum which starts the 13 minute window.

Place                                   Local Time

New Zealand                       1:21 am / 0121 on Saturday, 22 December

Sydney, Australia               11:21 pm / 2321 on Friday, 21 December

Beijing, China                      8:21 pm / 2021

Jerusalem, Israel                2:21 pm / 1421

Central Europe                   1:21 pm / 1321

London, UK                         12:21 pm/ 1221

U.S. Eastern                         7:21 am/ 0721

U.S. Central                         6:21 am / 0621

U.S. Mountain                     5:21 am / 0521

U.S. Pacific                           4:21 am / 0421

Hawaii                                  2:21 am/ 0221

Alternative 1:  The solstice is the hour of doomsday

Some, but not all, 2012 doomsayers claim the end will start at the solstice.  However, the Solstice actually occurs one hour before the sun rises (and therefore the Mayan day before the alleged end of the word).  However, here is the solstice in local times around the world for those who still try to merge the solstice and December 21 doomsday.

Place                                      Local Time
New Zealand                          12:21 am / 0021 on Saturday, 22 December
Sydney, Australia                  10:21 pm / 2221 on Friday, 21 December
Beijing, China                         7:21 pm / 1921
Jerusalem, Israel                   1:21 pm / 1321
Central Europe                       12:21 pm / 1221
London, UK                           11:21 am/ 1121
U.S. Eastern                           6:21 am/ 0621
U.S. Central                           5:21 am / 0521
U.S. Mountain                       4:21 am / 0421
U.S. Pacific                             3:21 am / 0321
Hawaii                                    1:21 am/ 0121

The Second Great Disappointment beings at...

The math is complex and anyone can argue that there is another way to figure out the exact time of the December 21 end of the world.  No doomsayer will hit the point of the Second Great Disappointment at least until the whole world changes over to December 22


Place                                      Local Time
New Zealand                          01:00 am / 0100 on Sunday, 23 December
Sydney, Australia                  11:00 pm / 2300 on Saturday , 22 December
Beijing, China                         8:00 pm / 2000
Jerusalem, Israel                   2:00 pm / 1400
Central Europe                      1:00 pm / 1300
London, UK                           12:00 pm/ 1200
U.S. Eastern                           7:00 am/ 0700
U.S. Central                           6:00 am / 0600
U.S. Mountain                       5:00 am / 0500
U.S. Pacific                             4:00 am / 0400
Hawaii                                    2:00 am/ 0200


The final nail in the coffin will be when the sun rises on December 22 over Palenque at 6:35 am local time thus ending the Mayan equivalent to 21 December.  Around the world this time is little more than half an hour after the whole world leaves December 21.


Place                                      Local Time
New Zealand                          01:35 am / 0135 on Sunday, 23 December
Sydney, Australia                  11:35 pm / 2335 on Saturday , 22 December
Beijing, China                         8:35 pm / 2035
Jerusalem, Israel                   2:35 pm / 1435
Central Europe                      1:35 pm / 1335
London, UK                           12:35 pm/ 1235
U.S. Eastern                           7:35 am/ 0735
U.S. Central                           6:35 am / 0635
U.S. Mountain                       5:35 am / 0535
U.S. Pacific                             4:00 am / 0435
Hawaii                                    2:35 am/ 0235


No one can agree when exactly the Mayan "doomsday" is set to begin because there is no Mayan doomsday scheduled for December 21.  I will end this post with Jesus Christ's saying to his followers who kept asking about when the world was going to end.


"But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Mark 13:32 RSV-CE

National Geographic Maps Bias During World War II

National Geographic is sometimes dinged for its pre-World War II support for Nazi Germany.  Its head management was progressive pro-Fascist/anti-Communist during the Great Depression, according to the excellent book Explorers House.  In fact, Douglas Chandler, writer of the 1937 article Changing Berlin (photos on Flickr, full article republished on French-language pro-Nazi website) defected to Nazi Germany to be a propagandist during the war.

However, once the United States entered the war the society quickly became solidly pro-Allies.  The legacy of the switch to pro-Allies is apparent when one examines the maps National Geographic produced.

For the October 1939 issues (map made probably right before the start of the war) shows all Nazi controlled lands including Germany and annexed Austria, Czech lands, and a portion of Lithuania as part of Germany.

For the May 1940 map Poland is still marked but its lands are given to Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. In June the Soviet Union invaded the Baltic states and annexed them.

Once the United States entered the war the map changed.  The June 1933 map show newly German-annexed lands in the Low Countries as belonging to their pre-war owners.  Poland was completely restored and the Baltic countries remained untouched despite the Soviet claim of annexing them.  Even Danzing is reverted back to a free city.  Interestingly though pre-war gains by Nazi Germany stayed on the map.  The war was illegitimate but National Geographic still gave diplomacy its due.

National Geographic reverted back to recognizing on the ground reality with its 1949 Europe map which had the Baltic states as part of the Soviet Union.

Historical and Geographic Illiteracy on Christmas Cards

I recently received a Christmas card showing the Holy Family in the village of Bethlehem at the time of the Nativity.

Fantus Paper Products' 50-7109 Christmas card has some issues

A quick look at the card reveals that the "little town" of Bethlehem has quite a skyline with domes and minarets.  Looking at the card I remarked out loud "That's not right".

The problem with the domes and minarets is that they do not belong to Herodian Judea.  Further, they do not belong to this time.  The video below shows a model of Jerusalem at the time of Herodian Judea/Tetrarchy/Roman Judea.  Notice that there are only a few domes anywhere and they mostly feature as accents on roofs.  Spires are almost unseen.



The modern dome was invented and popularized by the Romans which just reached Judea at the time of Christ's birth.  The widespread use of domes in the Middle East did not come until the Byzantine dome was popularized in the 500s and the dome's adoption by Muslim conquerors in the 600s.  Minarets meanwhile were based on Christian bell towers.  Bell towers were first introduced to churches by Saint Paulinus of Nola around AD 400.

After looking at the Christmas card pile I own I found even more historical geographical errors.

The card on the left, by Paper Magic Group, shows a 1,001 Arabian Nights-style Bethlehem  complete with olive domes and desert scenery.  Meanwhile the card on the right  has minarets and is published by the Catholic priest society the Columban Fathers.

On yet another card a minaret shows.

Even the Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity reach reports directly to the Vatican, has minarets on its Christmas card envelops.

Showing minarets and domes on the Christmas card gives in to some Orientalist fantasy which portrays the Middle East as somesort of permanent Arabia.  It ignores the varied history and geography within the region.

I suspect mere historic and geographic ignorance is to blame for the cards rather than a political statement unlike a priest adding a mosque to a nativity scene to promote inter-faith harmony or Austrians protesting a Swiss law by adding minarets to Christmas cards.

The Wales Theory of Middle Earth's Shape

Today the long awaited Hobbit movie is released.  While I personally fear a nine hour, three movie epic made out of a book which the dramatized, unabridged audio book is only two and a half hours long may stray too far from the source material, I am none the less in a J.R.R. Tolkien mood.  As such I began to think about geography and Middle Earth.

Middle Earth is based off Tolkien's view of a romantic, pre-industrial, pre-history Europe.  While he wrote that it was foolish to try to equate places in Middle Earth with present-day Europe, countless geographers and Tolkien fans have tried.

I, however, have been more interested in Middle Earth's shape than locations.  Looking at the map of Middle Earth I independently became a proponent of the little claimed theory that Middle Earth's geographical shape is based on Wales.  

View Larger Map

To a certain extent even the mountains match

Flip the map over and Middle Earth looks even more like Wales.

Wales fits Tolkien's worldview and thus could have at least inspired the shape of Middle Earth.  Wales is populated by Welsh who are in fact the original Britons who were pushed out of England by the Saxons.  As such they could represent the Old Europe which migrated west after great changes at the end of an age (much like the Elves and most other magical creatures of Middle Earth).

Tolkien, a fan of language, history, and geography, clearly took ideas from everywhere for creating his Middle Earth.  However, I maintain that Wales was a major driving factor his creation of the shape of Middle Earth.

The Christmas Tree in Mexico: Layers of Geopolitical Myths?

Several of my Mexican friends, both personal and academic, from Monterrey, Mexico took great pride in telling me about how German immigrants in the city introduced the Christmas tree to Mexico during the late 1800s.  No one could provide a source but everyone implied that it was common knowledge.

I took their word as truth as my travels through Mexico also revealed many more Christmas trees in the north compared to areas such as Mexico City and southern Mexico.  I even wrote the December 2012 monthly travel photo post about Mexican Christmas trees.

Much to my detriment, however, I did not consult geographer and Mexico expert Tony Burton, co-author of Geo-Mexico, about this.  His research indicates one (possibly two) Christmas Tree introductions to Mexico.

According to Burton, it seems that Emperor Maximillian brought over the Christmas Tree in the 1860s which then caught on with upper class Mexicans (most of whom in one way or another backed his government against the Liberal government of Benito Juarez).  Some other sources Burton describes claim that Mexican General Miguel Negrete, who fought against Maximillian and the French, got the idea for a Christmas Tree from the United States in the 1870s.

I told several friends about the above and encountered reactions which hint at nationalist and local myths at play concerning the Christmas Tree in Mexico.  An American economist friend who lived in Mexico laughed and said "Well, looks like Max did something."  Meanwhile, a Mexico City-based Mexican friend stated that there was no way "any Mexican would dare copy Maximillian."  Finally, a geographer in Monterrey could only reply with "but Christmas Trees came from the Germans [who immigrated to Monterrey]."

The second reaction reminded me of my visit to Chapultepec Castle when I asked a tour guide about the Mexican Conservatives who supported Maximillian.  Apparently, at least at the museum, there is a strong nationalist myth that no Mexicans supported Maximillian, only the French did.  After getting a stern message from the tour guide several Mexican tourists lectured me about how all Mexicans know Maximillian was a foreign puppet who had no true local support.  Later, a Mexican friend told me that I might of well asked a Mount Vernon tour guide about George Washington profiting off stolen Loyalist property.

So is there a tie between the current-day myth that no Mexicans supported Maximillian and possible Hapsburg Christmas tree-denialism?  Are the reports of General Negrete or German immigrants in the north introducing Christmas trees merely nationalist and local cover for adopting something the now hated Maximillian brought over from Europe?  I honestly cannot say.  There could have been easily multiple introduction of the Christmas tree to Mexico.  However, the mystery remains and it is even a little bit fun to imagine a conspiracy behind the beloved Christmas tree.

Nakhchivan: Not a Good Model for a Palestine

A reader suggested looking at Nakhchivan, the Azerbaijani exclave between Armenia, Iran, and Turkey, as a model for a divided Palestine split by a hostile Israel.  However, Nakhchivan is not a good model for a dived country as it is a corrupt exclave separate from Azerbaijan in more than one way.  In addition Azerbaijan and Armenia occupations of each other show how division can easily lead to war.


View Larger Map

First, is internally autonomous with little oversight from Baku.  Palestinians strongly desire one state, not two within one confederation.  Second, it is corrupt.  The Nakhchivan leader Vasif Talibov has held power since 1995.  While he has developed the region, Freedom House describes it as being run as if it were his "own personal fiefdom".  Having Gaza remain Hamas' own personal fiefdom with little civil rights is a recipe either for secession, an Arab Spring, or yet even more Hamas-Israel Wars.  Thirdly, most Nakhchivans prefer to travel and work in Turkey rather than Azerbaijan-proper.  This weakens a state and not a positive model for Palestine to follow.

Most importantly, good portions of Azerbaijan and tidbits of Armenia are occupied by each other.

The blue is internationally recognized Azerbaijan but in reality part of the self-proclaimed and Armenian-defended Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.  This de facto republic came into being because of Armenians being divided from the Republic of Armenia by a hostile Azerbaijan.

Notice the one little circle of Armenia in Azerbaijan and the three dots of Azerbaijan in Armenia.  Currently all these are occupied by the opposing hostile power.  The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is frozen in place with Azerbaijan planning/dreaming on how to recapture the land lost to the Nagorno-Karabakh without dragging Armenia's allies of Iran and Russia into war.  A functioning Palestine needs to be at peace with Israel.  Too many warlike variables will only drag the Middle East back into war and cause even more conflict causing geopolitical shifts. 

Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia provide an example of failure.  Once again I assess that, while geography is not destiny, declaring a "united" Palestine based on pre-1967 borders sets up Palestine for both internal and external failure.

The Geography Behind Hanukkah: Hebrews Caught Between Larger Things

Many Christians and seculars commonly mistake Hanukkah as the "Jewish Christmas", i.e. the largest and most important holy day of the year.  However, it is only a minor holiday on the Jewish religious calendar.  Much of the holiday's present fame is the desire to have a Jewish alternative to Christmas in order to protect Jewish identity in majority Christian/post-Christian cultures.

The story of Hanukkah itself meanwhile is similar with Jews desiring their own identity in a hostile world.  Interestingly enough it involves the first long-term exposure of Judaism to a European culture.

Greeks, Other Greeks, Pathways to Invasion, Dreams of Godhood and the Jews Caught in Between

In 332 BC Alexander the Great marched and seized the Levant from the Persian Empire.  The Jews of the region were allowed their de facto internal autonomy as long as they paid taxes since Alexander was more interested in defeating the Persian Empire than Hellenizing the world.  After Alexander's empire split the land of Israel went to the ethnic Greek, Egypt-center Ptolemaic Kingdom.  The Ptolemaics continued Jewish freedom of religion though a slow but steady trend of Hellenization began among some Jews.

In 198 BC another spin-off of Alexander's empire, the Seleucid Empire, conquered present-day Israel from the Ptolemaics as part of a campaign to gain vital trade lanes and make inroads for an invasion of Egypt.  Seleucid Emperor Antiochus III continued Greek tolerance of Judaism.

Antiochus' son, however, had different plans.  Antiochus IV was the first Seleucid king to enforce demands of worship for his claim of divine nature.  He saw this as a way to unite the empire around his divinity and build morale for the upcoming invasion of Egypt.  While Hellenized Jews were willing to follow the orders to deify the emperor most Jews refused.

In 168 BC Antiochus IV and his pro-Greek Jewish allies looted the Temple (the most holiest place in Judaism), massacred Jews who refused to add the Greek Gods to Judaism, and outlawed monotheistic Judaism.  It took the Maccabees Revolt, a revolt of monothestic, anti-Greek Jews described in the Bible books of First and Second Maccabees, for Jews to regain their independence and religious freedom. The Seleucids were too busy fighting off growing threats from the mixed Greek-Iranian Parthians and the growing Roman Republic to ever threaten the Jews directly after the rebellion.

The Festival of Lights itself comes from the Maccabees seizure of Jerusalem from the Seleucids and their allies.  The Maccabees went to the Temple and cleaned it of Pagan and other defilements.  After the cleansing the Temple was rededicated.  1 Maccabees 4:56 (RSV-CE) states

So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and offered burnt offerings with gladness; they offered a sacrifice of deliverance and praise.

The famous Jewish historian Josephus wrote a similiar account around AD 75

Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and he honored God, and delighted them by hymns and psalms.

After the end of the war the Jews were safe in Israel for the time being.  Many challenges were to come but thanks to the Maccabees their freedom of worship was preserved.

Geography Quiz 3: Religious Persecution and Tolerance

View Larger Map

The above is the site of tragedy and triumph.  It, along with other sites like it, were the locations of what I feel was the biggest federal, state, and local religious persecution in the United States in the twentieth century.

The place is populated entirely by a Christian denomination.  They are currently found throughout the upper interior especially in the states of North and South Dakota.  They were once all located in the United States but government and public persecution forced all to flee to Canada.  It was only decades later that a sizable minority moved back to the United States.

Who are these people and why were they persecuted?  Leave your answer in the comments and see if you are right!

Potential Geography Exercise: Exploring Places with Same Names

One of the first senses of place a person develops is home.  Whether it be a home town or the street they grew up on, the place and name of the place develop a special meaning.

Playing off this relationship between sense of place and place name can be a fun and easy geography teaching exercise.  Using Google Maps, look up places which share your hometown's name or search for places with the same address as your's.  Look around using Satellite View and Street View.  What is similar and what is different?  Why does the place have the same name/street address?  Does it reference an important person to the region?  Does it refer to a geographic feature?

I found this a good learning exercise for people and students as it "hits close to home" and is easily modifiable by teachers.  Enjoy!

Is the State of Palestine's Geographic Destiny Failure?

The United Nations voted to recognize "Palestine" as a non-member observer state, i.e. a fully independent country.  The resolution recognized an independent Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders of Israel with former Egyptian and Jordanian-occupied lands in the old Palestinian mandate award to the State of Palestine.

Geography is not destiny but it is a good rule of thumb.  With borders like this Palestine would struggle to keep a status quo out of war with Israel or at the very least a return to the Hamas-Fatah Civil War.  The reasons for Palestine's geographic strikes against it are that the population sizes of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and their separation from each other by internationally-recognized Israel.  A quick examination of excalves shows that having a Gaza Strip-exclave shows that the status quo as envisioned by the United Nations is undoable.

Exclaves are usually not causes of instability.  In most cases open border travel, similar ethnic/national makeup, and the limited population size of exclaves help ensure peace by making state geographic unity unnecessary.  For example, let us examine quickly exclaves that existed peacefully and some that failed.

Peaceful Exclaves

• Alaska-United States:  Open borders and friendly relations with Canada, same ethnic/national groups as in the United States.  17% of the United States' landmass but only 0.2% of the total population.
• European and former Soviet exclaves such as those in the Low Countries and even Kaliningrad:  Open borders or custom unions which allow for easy travel.  Very minimal in physical and population size (>.01)

Contested Exclaves

• Calbinda-Angola:  Semi-open borders with varying relationship with Zaire/Congo, different ethnic/national groups.  1.9% of Angola's total population and 0.6% of the total landmass. 
• East Pakistan-Republic of Pakistan:  In 1971 closed borders due to hostile relations with India.  Very different ethnic/national groups between the exclave (Bangladesh) and present-day Pakistan.  18.5% of the country's landmass but 55% of the total population.
• East Prussia-Nazi Germany:  In 1939 closed borders due to Polish corridor and Polish fears of Nazi invasion.  Same ethnic majority.  3.1% of Germany's population and 6.1% of Germany's landmass.

Now let us examine Palestine as declared by the United Nations.

Both the Gaza Strip and West Bank are demographically the same.  This will help reduce internal strife.  Another Hamas-Fatah conflict is still possible but both populations will view themselves as one Palestinian nation which should remain in one state.

The trouble for Palestine concerns size and access.  The long running tension between Israel and Palestinians is likely to keep borders closed.  The critical blow to long term viability is in population size.  The Gaza Strip only makes up 6.1% of United Nations-declared Palestine but comprises 44.5% of its total population.  

Outlook

Something like Palestine as recognized by the United Nations has never been done before.  The only thing similar was East and West Pakistan, the difference being the separate ethnic groups, and that ended in monumental failure.  Under a United Nations-envisioned Palestine, Palestinians would be one people separated nearly evenly with a hostile country in between.  As such a permanent split between the Gaza Strip and West Bank is unlikely, though the lack of access between the two may drive some in Palestine to push for a war for geographic unity against Israel.  Geography is not destiny, as I stated before, but the United Nations defined Palestine has been set upon an unknown and dangerous course.

December 2012 Monthly Travel Photo: Mexican Christmas Tree

 
Although Santa Claus, as Americans imagine Saint Nicholas, is making large inroads into Mexico due to cross-cultural exchanges via mass media and migration of legal and illegal immigrants, Christmas celebrations in Mexico outside Mexico City can still be considered mostly traditional.  European and New Spain (mixture of European and Mesoamerican Indian) celebrations are found all over the country. 

However, the Christmas tree first made its introduction in Mexico in the northern regions.  It was in and around Monterrey, Mexico where German industrialist and others settled and brought along the tradition of the Christmas tree.  Today, the Christmas tree is found throughout Mexico.